Wells Gardner Color Vector Monitor Display Corrector

Wells Gardner vector displays (such as the WG 6100, 6102, 6400, etc.) use a slightly concave CRT. Combined with the neck configuration of the tube results in a visible "bowing" effect where the side of the screen appears to pinch inward where straight vertical lines are drawn. The effect is demonstrated at right.
The image to the right is the display "after" the display corrector is applied. The board that was used for this picture did not have the VDR and X-Linearity control enabled (optional for the user), so the image quality can be even slightly better that this. (I don't like having to move the VDR from the Star Wars board to the Display Corrector so I skip that step. (Adding the VDR will make the "diamonds" on the right more linear.)

The Display Corrector takes the outputs of an Atari Star Wars or Empire Strikes Back boardset and applies a mathematical function to correct for "bowing" on the monitor screen when these games are used with a Wells Gardner 6100 series monitor.

The Display Corrector can be used with other game boards that exhibit the same problem (Major Havoc for example), but the included documentation is specific to Star Wars/ESB. Once installed, the Display Corrector has a noticeable effect of the "egg-shape" of the Death Star turning back to a "sphere" and a very positive effect on the text and graphics quality throughout the game.

(Display Corrector PCB, Rev. 3.0)

The board includes four adjustable potentiometers which modify the X-position, X-width, X-linearity, and the amount of "correction". There are two power LEDs which light when +15V and -15V are present.

Installation generally will require some soldering and is slightly more involved than just "plug and play".

The Display Corrector is currently priced at $35 plus shipping.

Updated: 3/23/02


© 2002, Clayton Cowgill info@multigame.com